1717 - 1723Statue of Emperor Charles VI in Franzensburg castle's Habsburgs Gallery

Baroque sculptor Matthias Bernhard Braun operated in Bohemia and was native of Sautens in the Ötztal valley. In 1717 he ordered three blocks of marble from Lasa to be delivered to his studio in Prague. Braun’s workshop employed the brothers Johann and Gregor Thény from Burgeis, two sculptors who knew the marble from Lasa very well.

In 1720, Franz Anton Sporck, a wealthy aristocrat from Bohemia, patron and promoter of Braun for many years, contracted him for the erection of Charles VI’s monument. It was to be created in marble extracted from Lasa and destined to ornate the last available column on the Charles Bridge in Prague. With the group of figures, which should have also included Sporck in the role of a knight, the patron wanted to gain the emperor's favor and therefore influence the jury's verdict in a trial for heresy.

The Bohemian governors, however, hindered the project. Sporck did not loose heart and had the monument erected despite the authorities: he unveiled the main part of the project, the one featuring the statue of Emperor Charles VI, during an imperial court hearing.

But this was not enough to win him the emperor's favors. The statue remained property of Braun, the sculptor, and although it was one of the most precious works of Baroque sculpture, probably created by the master himself, it was only purchased in 1838 by Ferdinand I (the Good) and placed within the Laxenburg castle.